1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to monitors, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing selective aging for monitor production.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electronic display systems include a display monitor that is typically subjected to a process known as xe2x80x9cagingxe2x80x9d during manufacture. This process involves the warming up of cathode ray tubes (xe2x80x9cCRTxe2x80x9d) to facilitate testing of circuitry and adjustment of various display parameters.
The amount of aging, A, may be expressed as follows:
A=aging timexc3x97monitor luminance
where luminance indicates the amount of light intensity which is perceived by the eye as brightness. Luminance control is also termed xe2x80x9cwhite balancexe2x80x9d since white light may be considered and provided as a mixture of the red, green and blue primary colors in the proper proportions. In CRTs, drift characteristics result in image luminance distortion or the alteration of the white balance. Aging is necessary to reduce the effects of temperature drift.
In conventional aging systems, monitor luminance cannot be adjusted. Accordingly, to obtain the required amount of aging, the only parameter that can be increased is aging time. As a result, typical aging periods may take up to 3 hours, and also include a cooling off period of about 1 hour. Such a conventional technique is inflexible and cannot accommodate input signals with multiple frequencies. In addition, the aging time is lengthy.
Accordingly, there is a need in the technology for a method and apparatus for effectively testing circuitry during the aging process, while decreasing the time involved for the aging process.
The present invention relates a method and system for providing aging of a cathode ray tube. The system comprises a video processing circuit that is configured to generate a first luminance signal and a second luminance signal. The system also comprises an electron gun located in the cathode ray tube, that is coupled to the video processing circuit. The electron gun is configured to operate at a first luminance level corresponding to the first luminance signal for a first predetermined period of time, and a second luminance level corresponding to the second luminance signal for a second predetermined period of time.